Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image processing program and an image processing device and, more particularly, to an image processing program and an image processing device, with which a portion of a virtual space to be displayed on the screen (“display area”) can be moved.
Description of the Background Art
There are conventional video game devices and video game programs for displaying objects in a virtual space on the screen. For example, there is a video game in which there are objects (characters) in a three-dimensional virtual game space, wherein the display area is determined so that primary objects will be shown within the screen (see, for example, “Nintendo Official Player's Guide—Dairanto Smash Brothers DX (Super Smash Brothers Melee)”, Shogakukan Inc., Jan. 20, 2002, p 4 (Non-Patent Document 1)). This is a fighting video game in which there are a plurality of characters, one of which is controlled by the player. The video game device automatically adjusts the position and the direction of a virtual camera so that the characters are shown within the screen. An image of the game space taken by the virtual camera is displayed on the screen. Thus, the player can enjoy the game without losing sight of the player character or the opponent character.
Depending on the nature of the video game, simply keeping all the primary objects within the screen may not always give the best view for the player. For example, in video games where the player character shoots an arrow or a gun in a certain direction in the game space, more of the area in that direction is preferably displayed on the screen. Specifically, in a case where the player character is to shoot an arrow in the upper right direction of the screen, the player character is preferably displayed closer to the lower left corner of the screen so that more of the area in the upper right direction from the player character is displayed on the screen. This does not apply only to those cases where the player controls the player character. In any case where the player performs an operation in a certain direction with reference to a point in the game space, it is preferable for the player that more of the area in that direction is displayed on the screen.
With the method of Non-Patent Document 1, however, the display area is determined based on a plurality of objects in the game space. Therefore, if there are no primary objects in a particular area in the game space, the displayed game space will not be centered about the particular area even if the player wishes to see the particular area. Thus, it is not possible with this method to display the game space on the screen in a preferred manner for the player in such a case where the player character shoots an arrow, for example.